Following the shifts in the freight shipping market can be challenging for business owners. Understanding freight seasons can help you accurately predict demand and prepare for the challenges of every shipping period. Here we will talk about the peak season of shipping and how to arrange your logistics operations properly.

What are freight shipping seasons?

Regardless of the fluctuations in the freight market, there is a relatively stable pattern regarding freight shipping seasons. In freight shipping and logistics, the year is divided into four parts. Typically, the customer demand and the business specifics determine this division of the shipping year.

• The Quiet Shipping Season (January – March) usually brings the slowdown of your logistics operations due to the decreased demand. Since the carrier capacity exceeds the needs of businesses, transportation prices go down.
• The Produce Shipping Season (April – July) is highly beneficial for the distributors of food and other products that depend on the harvest period.
• The Peak Shipping Season (August – October) needs you to balance increased demand and tight carrier capacity.
• The Holiday Shipping Season (November – December) is when you actively move significant volumes of presents and have to stick to tight shipping deadlines.

What is peak season shipping?

The peak season of shipping starts at the end of the summer. This time brings a combination of demand from inventories from the summer markets. Businesses start stocking up for the upcoming holiday season and back-to-school shopping time. Besides, retailers try to sell their leftover stocks from the summer. During this peak, freight rates are at the highest, and the capacity is tight. Sometimes, it becomes a problem to get an LTL quote quickly, avoiding shipping delays.

How to prepare for peak season shipping?

The busy moving season requires thorough preparation. In addition, it’s essential to maintain active communication with all the supply chain members. Several reliable practices can help you handle peak-season shipping.

1. Use the information to plan

Although predicting customer behavior and demand is hard, analyzing your previous sales and operation strategy may help define mistakes. Also, try adapting your management system to prevent those issues in the coming season. Check your inventory to see if your supply is intense enough to satisfy customer demand. It will help you avoid common stock issues and stay organized.

Verify if all the facilities are set up for the increased sales period, and ensure safety for your employees and customers. Evaluate the effectiveness of your customer support platforms so that representatives can answer the buyers’ questions.

2. Expand relationships with suppliers & carriers

Recent events in the global economy have shown companies that they need to be more flexible and resilient. Keep this in mind while entering the peak shipping season, and make sure you have good communications with suppliers, carriers, and shipping services. Strong partnerships will let you quickly react to the peak season shipping changes. Thus, you’ll be able to adjust your strategy appropriately.

Discuss your action plan with the vendor and estimate the supply speed. Is it high enough to place and process numerous purchases? If not, try to analyze your sales dynamics and demand forecasting results. You will probably need to form your supply order preliminary.

3. Get access to competitive rates

Now is the best time to start looking for reasonable freight rates, expanding your freight carrier network, and securing truck capacity. The closer it gets to the peak season, the more expensive freight rates will get, and the capacity will shrink. With early planning, your company can get an LTL quote for a reasonable price and ensure that your shipments will be delivered on time.

With GoShip, you can get access to many professional carriers ready to move during the peak season. Our digital platform lets you compare the carrier rates in real time and book a suitable capacity in a few clicks. Try our simple tool and get an LTL quote now!